Stay With Me
by LCA
Summary: ClanaChlex. Lana is dead and the people of Smallville must deal with the affects. It's better than it sounds, trust me.
1. Prologue

Author: LCA  
  
Disclaimer: Does special disclaiming dance to the Disclaiming God, who shines down upon me and doesn't sue.  
  
Distribution: ask, beg, take, cherish!  
  
Pairings: Clana  
  
a/n: ok, it's weird, I know, but I thought it was a really haunting idea that was worth sharing. review if you like it, review if you don't. JUST REVIEW!!!!!  
  
Stay With Me  
  
* * *  
  
"Stay with me," he whispered into her long black hair as he nuzzled her neck. Clark was lying in bed with her, not wanting to get up.  
  
"You know I can't." She responded with a sigh, pushing away and starting to get up.  
  
Clark hooked his arm around her slender waist and pulled her back down and into a kiss. She giggled and didn't resist. Soon their kiss deepened.  
  
I could stay like this forever, Clark thought to himself after they pulled apart. She gave him her special smile before resting her head on his chest as he absently stroked her hair. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her.  
  
"I know."  
  
"Don't you hate me?" He asked her.  
  
"Of course not."  
  
He didn't know what else to say, so he just didn't say anything. She lifted her head, as if she had heard something. Clark tensed; they were calling her back. She looked at him apologetically as she stood up.  
  
"Wait. Stay with me." He pleaded.  
  
She just shook her head, her long black hair shinning in the cold moonlight coming from the window. "Goodbye, Clark."  
  
Clark woke up with a jolt. For a moment he didn't know where he was, and in his confused state, he looked frantically for Lana. Then in a flash he remembered. She was dead. He hadn't saved her in time, hadn't been fast enough. The pain caught him in its torrent and didn't let him go. Gasping for breath, he felt a tear trickle down his cheek.  
  
"Stay with me," he whispered to the night, but only darkness answered. Only his slowing sobs filled the room.  
  
Wiping the last of his tears away, he lay back down and tried to fall asleep; but his heart felt broken, and his arms felt empty because she wasn't in them. 


	2. Chapter 1

Author: LCA  
  
Disclaimer: Prayer to the Disclaiming God: Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray to God my muse to keep. If I get sued when I awake, I pray the lawyers just made a mistake. They ain't mine! Amen.  
  
A/N: ok, so i caved. this was just going to be a one-chapter fic, but i got all these lovely reviews...and i got a really amazing idea that fits this story perfectly. that, and the Smallville is too much fun too write about. I CAN'T STOP!!!!! anywho... To the Reviewers:  
  
style: yes, it's shocking! OUCH! get it...like a shock...only you meant it as surprising...God, I'm priceless....  
  
Akemi Akibi: thanx for your offer of help, it was very appreciated. i already have a beta reader, but if I didn't u bet your button i'd ask u! the reason i didn't go into detail on what happened is that i loved the idea of the mystery and also, just at the core of the issue, Clark lost Lana, and when you loose someone you love, the how's and why's just don't matter. so that was my train of thought while writing, sorry if it confused you.  
  
Angie:): oh sure, the Disclaiming God is great. But the dance can get a little hard, not for novices. i'm glad i could depress you! hope this has the same effect. lol!  
  
LL2: thank you for you review! yeah, pain sux. eh, what can ya do? :)  
  
jessi01: sooo glad you loved it! u like me! hazah! so, i updated JUST FOR YOU!!!!  
  
The Die Hard: i think that Clark has been brought up to feel guilt when he can't save someone. true, he can't do everything, but if someone you loved died, and you knew you could have done something different...i believe it is natural is to blame yourself, even if it's not reasonable.  
  
beaker164: thanx, i try!  
  
CrAzYgUrL73089: OMG! i read Everlasting Love and i looooooooved it...one might say everlastingly... i freaked out when i found out u had reviewed me. lol! and i would have reviewed yours, but i think i had to go eat when i had finished reading it and was really mad because i couldn't. grrrrr! anway, thanx so much for saying my fic was sadder, however untrue it is.  
  
A: poor Clark! *sigh* glad you liked my fic! *blushes*  
  
just me: here! i wrote more. ;-)  
  
Stay With Me  
  
***  
  
Clark kept his head down as he walked up the steps to school. Chloe could see him, honestly looking as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. His incredibly wide, hunky shoulders....  
  
'NO! BAD CHLOE!!! BAD THOUGHTS!!!!' Her mind snapped her out of it. 'He just lost the person he has been in love with for how many years, and you think he'll even look at you now?'  
  
As if to prove the cruel point, Clark walked right by her, not even glancing her way. Chloe sighed and followed him down the hall. It's not like he was the only one who had lost Lana. Her and Chloe had developed a true friendship over time. She had been so beautiful, so full of life. It just wasn't fair. The image of her body, of what he had done to her...  
  
Chloe shook off the image and walked brusquely to her newspaper office. She just wanted to surround herself with work, and forget Clark, forget Lana, forget everything.  
  
However, at that moment her cell phone rang. Checking the caller id she saw it was...Lex? Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. Why the hell was he calling her? Unless....  
  
Her cheeks flamed. It had been one kiss, one night. The night she had found Lana. He had driven her home, and he had opened the door for her, led her into the house and just held her when she had finally broken down. Her legs had given out and everything. Lex's arms had wrapped around her waist and held her up, squishing her to him, but she hadn't minded the closeness. His chest heaved and she knew that he was crying too. They stood there for possibly hours, she still didn't know how long it had been, crying on each other and at the same time trying to comfort each other. When her legs and finally steadied, she pulled back and looked up at him.  
  
His eyes were puffy and his nose was red, and somehow she had never seen anyone sexier in her life. Tilting her head up they had shared one perfect kiss. It had only lasted a second, but the impact was still rippling through her life today. Since then she had used the tried-and-true avoidance routine. Chloe knew that she really liked Clark, but at the same time she couldn't deny that the kiss had been...magical.  
  
'O.k., did I really just call a kiss MAGICAL?!?!?! You have to pull it together, girl.' her ever active brain chimed in. The phone was still ringing, so she did the appropriate thing to do in that situation. Stuffed it back in her bag and kept walking.  
  
* * *  
  
Everywhere he looked he saw her. She was the girl whose back was to him, her long black hair shining. Her laughter could be heard in the wind. Her eyes twinkled in the stars. SHE JUST WOULDN'T LEAVE HIM THE HELL ALONE!  
  
Clark lashed out at the nearby locker. The pain rippling through his fist from the full-contact blow with metal felt good, calmed him down.  
  
Even in death Lana could drive him crazy. However, Clark did not necessarily appreciate this more accurate meaning to the word that he was experiencing. He saw here everywhere. Even in his dreams. Especially in his dreams. She would talk to him then, and it would be just like her. Her movements, her facial expressions, they were all perfect. Just as she would have done them, which equaled perfect.  
  
The bell rang, so Clark made his way over to the science room, where he was sure to be bored to tears. Or death. Hopefully death. If he died, he could see Lana again...  
  
He knew those weren't healthy thoughts. He could still hear his mother's voice, from just this morning.  
  
"Clark, honey, it's not that we don't trust you to come to us when you have a problem but...we also know how much Lana meant to you. It's o.k. to feel sad about her death, but it's not o.k. to blame yourself. There's nothing you could have done. That man was sick, and he knew how to..." Martha's voice choked off into tears.  
  
"You saw the pictures, Mom." Clarks voice was as cold as steal. "Even I could hardly recognize her. And I had promised her, Mom. I had promised to never let that happen to her. If I had just left her alone. If I had just cut her out of my life for good..."  
  
"She wouldn't let you. Clark, she didn't die because you loved her. And she didn't die because she loved you. She died because she was at the wrong place at the wrong time."  
  
Clark looked up at her with lost eyes, as though by staring hard enough, he could actually see the answers. "Why couldn't I hear her screams for help? Why couldn't I hear her when she needed me the most?"  
  
Martha had been unable to answer, and Clark had gotten up and just walked away.  
  
Clark shook his head, thinking of the conversation they would have when he got home that night. The bell calling school to order sounded, and the teacher started the day's lecture. Clark promptly fell asleep.  
  
*  
  
"Psssssst."  
  
The sound came through to him, from the blackness of Clark's eyelids.  
  
"Psssssssssssssssst!" The sound was sharper, more urgent. It was followed by a sharp poke in the ribs.  
  
"What the..." Clark muttered as he opened his eyes. He was out on some field somewhere, his truck parked in front of him and a laughing Lana retreating to sit on its hood.  
  
"Hey there, Sleeping Beauty!" she teased. "I expect total and complete attention."  
  
"Yes, Ma'am," he mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. There she was, in all of her glory. A pink bell-sleeved shirt, with a deeper pink tank top underneath it, framed her upper torso, showing her slenderness and a little bit of cleavage. Jeans hugged her thighs and..other areas. Clark swallowed, trying to banish the lustful thoughts. Her hair was just as shiny as ever, and held away from her eyes by two butterfly clips. She was...perfect.  
  
Lana jumped off of the hood and knelt down by him. He looked deep into her eyes before kissing her. The kiss deepened and they lay down gently in the grass before pulling apart. Then, before she could move, Clark tickled her. She was gasping for breath, writhing around trying to get away when the rain clouds came. Looking up at the sky, Lana frowned.  
  
"I have to go, I shouldn't have stayed this long," she said, her tone terrified.  
  
"What is it? Why do you have to leave?" Clark grabbed her hand, stopping her from going anywhere.  
  
"Clark...I...I'm not supposed to say."  
  
"No, I won't let you go. Stay with me."  
  
"They'll get angry. Please Clark, let me go."  
  
"I can't. I've tried, but I just can't.  
  
The clouds were getting darker and darker; and Lana was getting more and more frantic. She tugged to get her hand away from him. By the time she finally got it free, the rain was pouring and lightning was going everywhere. A bolt flew down from the sky and hit her right where she stood.  
  
"LANA!!!!!" Clark screamed. He couldn't stand to loose her again.  
  
When the lightning faded, Lana still stood, but her eyes were black and soulless. It wasn't Lana anymore Clark realized with a sickening turn of his stomach.  
  
She walked toward her, steam still coming off of her a little bit.  
  
"What's the matter, love? Don't you care for me anymore?" It was Lana's voice, but with a sick, twisted, metallic ring to it. Quick as a blink her hand went back and raked across his cheek, drawing blood.  
  
Lana looked at him with those awful eyes.  
  
"LOVE ME!!!!!!!" she screamed.  
  
*  
  
Clark jerked awake, for once glad that his dream with Lana had ended. It was just a dream right? Putting a shaking hand up to his cheek, Clark winced as his cold fingers came in contact with the burning flesh. Pulling his hand back, his heart stopped. There was blood on his fingers.  
  
* * *  
  
A/n: more to come. o, by the way, see that button right below that says "Go"? come on, touch it. all the cool kids do. ;-) 


	3. Chapter 2

Author: LCA  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or anything affiliated to Smallville. I own a couch...and...WAIT!!!...the 20 cents I just found underneath the couch! Things are looking up!!!!  
  
A/N: New chapter up. woo-hoo! This chapter is going to develop the Chlex aspect a tad more. Mmmmmmmmm, Lex....o, sorry, what? Must have dazed off...Um, where was I? Oh, right. Just a warning: language will be used in this chapter, but it IS PG-13 so....come on. You have been warned.  
  
To the reviewers:  
  
THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!!!!!!!!!! I love reviews and I love to hear the little voice say "You've Got Mail" and you have filled my life with both! You don't know how happy that makes me! YAY!!!!!!!!  
  
Stay With Me  
  
* * *  
  
Clark shouldered his way through the masses, trying to get to his locker so he could grab his stuff and get home. All he wanted to do was climb up to the loft and stare at the sky for a few hours. Maybe after that he could begin to process what was happening and deal with society.  
  
Maybe not.  
  
Most likely not.  
  
Clark had made it to his locker and was half way out the door, starting to think that he was actually going to get out home free when...  
  
"Hey, Clark!"  
  
Turning, Clark prepared himself to deal with Chloe. There she stood, in all of her analytical glory; hands on hips and eyebrows raised.  
  
"Now I KNOW you didn't think that you could get away with skipping school and not taking me along, right?"  
  
Clark's response was a brilliant silence and a scuffle of his shoe. With an impatient roll of her eyes, Chloe walked to him. She noticed his cheek and immediately her annoyance was replaced with concern.  
  
"Geez, Clark, what happened? Get in a fight with an alley cat or something? That has to hurt!"  
  
He just gave her a one-shouldered shrug and returned to his retreat back to the parking lot. The soft tread of footsteps behind him let him know that she was following him. His shoulder's tightened subconsciously.  
  
Chloe chose to continue the conversation, despite Clark's obvious lack of participation. "Look, you need to talk about it. It's not possible for you to be 'fine' or for 'nothing' to be wrong, so don't even try those one worded answers on me."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Clark, you're going to have to face me sooner or later. You're going to have to face the world sooner or later. Shutting yourself off is not going to help at all. And you know what? This whole guilt trip is getting really old. Lana's dead and there's nothing you could have done about it, so why don't you just let it g-"  
  
Clark stopped in his tracks so fast that Chloe ran into him. He turned around in the blink of an eye and gripped her arms so tight he heard her suck in her breath from pain. She looked at him with fear in her eyes, and as much as it killed him to see it, Clark was beyond being polite now.  
  
"Is that what you think, Chloe? Is that what you tell yourself at night? That Lana's death was unpreventable and therefore none of us are to blame? God, how selfish can you get. You know, if there's anyone I blame, it's you. You were supposed to hang out with her that night. Where the hell were you?"  
  
He paused for a breath. She started to answer but he cut her off first.  
  
"No, let me tell you where you were. You were in the office. Some big scoop came your way and you just had to follow up. You put your work ahead of you friends. But hey, no big deal, you're Chloe Sullivan, and work ALWAYS comes first to you. So while you're off interviewing Lex, getting your big, important story, Lana's waiting outside of the Talon. For a half- hour, that's what was in the police report. She waited a half-hour before she gave up and started to walk home. That's when..........and she didn't even stand a chance, had no way of knowing what was happening to her..."  
  
Clark whirled around, fighting the tears that kept trying to get out. He felt a soft hand on his back. Impossibly, this only infuriated him more, but he was past words by now and could only concentrate on not crying. Not in front of her. Not in front of anyone.  
  
Her voice came to him, small, comforting.  
  
"Clark, I don't pretend to think that I'm innocent in this. I see Lana's blood on my hands all day, and I wash them tell the crack and chafe but I can't get the damned spot out. There's no excuse for what happened. For what I did. But as soon as the interview was done, I had Lex drive me to the Talon. I missed her by minutes. And it's all on me; I know that. But there was nothing anyone could have done once he had honed in on her. There was nothing..."  
  
She let her voice trail off, and Clark was glad. Glad he didn't have to listen to anymore lies about how everyone had tried to help Lana. How everyone had just been minutes away from saving her.  
  
In a span of "just minutes" his entire future had been turned into ash.  
  
His voice cut like steel.  
  
"We don't know if there's nothing anyone could have done because no one tried. No one stepped in when they heard her screaming for help. I know Lana; I know she would have screamed so hard that all of main street could have heard her. As far as I'm concerned everyone is to blame for her death. This whole fucking town failed Lana, and they failed me. YOU failed Lana, and YOU failed me."  
  
He kept his back to her so he didn't have to see her shocked expression. It wasn't HIS fault. She was the one who wanted him to open up; hoped she was happy with what she got.  
  
"It's hard for me to look at you right now, because I'm filled with so much hate it's only a matter of time before I lash out at someone, and I would rather it not be you because somewhere, deep down, I know that I must care for you. However, I'm finding it incredibly hard to remember that. You mean nothing to me right now. Just leave me alone, Chloe. Leave me alone like you left Lana alone."  
  
Before she could respond, Clark was in his truck and peeling out of the parking lot. He just wanted to get away from everything, any way possible.  
  
***  
  
If Chloe Sullivan liked one thing about herself, it was her pride. Take away her friends, her house, her family, and (God forbid) her newspaper, and she would still look you in the eyes and have some smart comment. Or so she had always thought. She had lived through some times that definitely did not merit a frolic through the meadow, but she never cried.  
  
Never.  
  
Because only weak people cried. Only people who couldn't handle life cried; and if you couldn't handle the heat than get out of the kitchen.  
  
Still, somehow no matter how hard she tried to tell herself these things right now, she could feel the hot salt pour from her eyes and trail down her cheeks, and she had to face the truth.  
  
She was crying. The No-Nonsense Reporter Extraordinaire of Smallville High was crying in the middle of the parking lot.  
  
No, not crying.  
  
She was sobbing.  
  
And she didn't care who saw her, because her best friend, the guy she had always dreamed of being more than best friends with, had just told her that he wouldn't shed a tear if she turned up dead tomorrow.  
  
Maybe she should turn up dead somewhere. Perhaps that would cause Clark to care for her. Sure as hell worked for Lana.  
  
With a gasp she realized what she had just thought, and the sobs came harder now, her chest having to heave to get enough air. And inside that chest she could feel her heart breaking.  
  
***  
  
Off in the distance the tardy bell rang. A group of druggies made their way back to the building, having declared themselves adequately high. All of the students in that building were settling down into their seats, maybe starting a note to a friend that they had just finished saying goodbye to in the hall.  
  
A teacher stepped to the front and called attention. The students groaned and took out their textbooks while the teacher called attendance.  
  
Only two absences that day.  
  
Kent and Sullivan.  
  
***  
  
Crying, as it turns out, is a lot like Pringles: once you pop, you just can't stop.  
  
Chloe had cried in the parking lot for a good 15 minutes after second period had started. Then she had cried in the car, thanking whatever supernatural being was up there that no one drove on the roads at 9:30 in the morning. Then she cried as she fumbled with the keys, trying to get into her house. She stumbled up the stairs, clawed into a tank top and pajama bottoms, and threw herself onto the bed.  
  
She cried, she sobbed, she wept, she whimpered. Harder than the night Lana had died; harder than the night her mother had left.  
  
And through it all, she kept seeing his face. His burning eyes; his clenched jaw.  
  
Chloe could never be called an optimist, but something in her had always believed that no one could truly hate another person. Sure there was room for strong dislike, maybe even a loathe here and there, but not true hatred. She had been proven wrong today.  
  
Now she sat, reduced to half-mindedly watching some stupid soap opera about a girl named Sheridan that couldn't seem to decide which brother she loved more. Having only watched half of one episode, it was still painfully obvious whom she would choose: Luis Lopez-Fitzsomethingorother, although all of the pouting and lip biting was entertaining.  
  
"Just choose the hot one and get it over with," Chloe shouted at the screen as Sheridan look at Luis, then Antonio, then Luis again, then the camera as it zoomed out and went to commercials.  
  
Rolling her eyes, Chloe pushed herself up to raid the fridge before the show started again. Before she could get to the kitchen, there was a knock on the door.  
  
Opening it, she was surprised to see Lex standing there. He, on the other hand, didn't look surprised to see her at home on a school day. If anything he looked pissed. Breezing past her, he took a seat on the couch.  
  
"Please, let yourself in," Chloe muttered. It didn't have any affect on him, and she knew it wouldn't. Closing the door, she returned to the armchair she had previously been occupying.  
  
"Well..."  
  
Lex said it as though she were the one that had some explaining to do. As though SHE were the one that had showed up at HIS door and interrupted HIS perfectly legitimate pity party.  
  
"Well? What does that mean?"  
  
Chloe was torn between trading insults with Lex and watching the show, which had just come back on.  
  
"What do you think it means? Well, why weren't you at school? Well, why haven't you called me back? Well, where do we stand after that kiss? "  
  
Now Chloe had no problem deciding what to focus on. She stared at Lex incredulously  
  
"Excuse me, how did you know I wasn't at school? Have you been following me?"  
  
"Don't flatter yourself, Ms. Sullivan. I was simply driving by and noticed your car in the driveway. Figured we were past due for a heart to heart."  
  
"Oh, uh-huh..."  
  
Chloe's eyes found themselves being drawn back towards the screen where Antonio was making some random threat at Luis.  
  
"Are you sick or something?"  
  
"What do you care?"  
  
"It's just that you seem rather dressed down." Lex guffawed.  
  
Sheepishly Chloe looked down at her pale yellow tank and dancing Twinkie pajama pants.  
  
'There's nothing to feel embarrassed about. You don't have to look good for Lex.' She told herself, but her cheeks still flared.  
  
"If you have to know...Clark and I had a fight. It really upset me, so I skipped."  
  
Lex's smile faded and he honestly looked concerned. He got off of the couch and sat down on the arm of her lazy-boy.  
  
"Do you want to talk about it?" His voice could almost pass for sympathetic.  
  
Chloe turned from the screen as commercials once again blared. Looking up she was startled to see Lex's ice blue eyes that close to her. She could smell his cologne, which reminded her faintly of her mother's spice rack. His arm was just barely around her shoulders, keeping him balanced on the edge of the chair.  
  
Memories of his lips came back to her. They had been so soft and gentle; nothing like she had pictured kissing him would be like. She had always assumed he was a rough kisser, that he would push and prod too much for her taste. Her cheeks flushed a little more with each passing second.  
  
"Well?"  
  
Oh, right, he had asked a question.  
  
"No," she managed to breath. "No I don't want to talk about Clark."  
  
"Then do you want to talk about us?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then what do you want to talk about."  
  
The way his lips moved when he talked mesmerized her. Chloe knew she was staring at them obscenely, but they were so...pretty...  
  
She paused to wonder if she was a terrible person. Not more than a half hour ago, she had been crying like the world was ending over a farm boy, and now could hardly catch a breath talking to this city slicker.  
  
Chloe knew she should tell him that they couldn't be more than friends. She should explain that Clark had her heart, and probably would for quite awhile. Her mouth opened to say the words, but as soon as her lips parted, Lox's descended upon them.  
  
In the three hours that Chloe had sulked, she had rather affectively managed to numb herself. It was the slow kind of numb that invaded the body after crying which didn't make you feel good or bad. It didn't make you feel at all. But now, her whole world exploded into feeling again. She could feel her heart pounding, feel her breath catch, but mostly she felt Lex.  
  
His chest under her hands, his nose as it tapped at her cheek, his lips...  
  
If Chloe had thought herself mesmerized by his lips while they were talking, she was raptured by them now.  
  
The kiss went on and on, and could continue to do so forever as far as Chloe was concerned. When they finally did pull apart, Chloe just looked up at him breathlessly.  
  
"Well..." Lex said, searching her eyes to make sure she was ok with what had just happened.  
  
"Well, well." Chloe answered with a grin, pulling him closer.  
  
They shared another kiss, harder than the last one.  
  
Chloe pulled apart suddenly.  
  
"My show! I have to know who she picks!"  
  
Lex smiled and reached for the remote. With a forceful click, he turned the TV off and threw the remote to the other side of the room.  
  
"She picks the guy she was meant to be with."  
  
With another grin, Chloe pulled him to her again and closed her eyes tight.  
  
Clark, who?  
  
***  
  
a/n: Well, what do you think? Sorry it's taken to so long but speech really does take up SO much time. It ends this Saturday, so I should be able to update (don't quote me on this) once a week after this weekend. I'll try. So, anyways, you should review! No really, you should! 


	4. Chapter 3

Author: LCA  
  
Disclaimer: Trust me, if the show WAS mine you would be able to understand what happened at the season finale. Was I the only screaming "WTF!" at my TV screen when Chloe died, or was that a universal feeling?  
  
A/N: A big fat shloppy kiss to all of my reviewers! MWAH!!!!!!!!!!! This chapter is more Chlex stuff, but definite nods towards Clana. Gotta have the Clana.  
  
A/N 2: I'm soooooooooo sorry it took me so damn long to update this fic. I just suck at concentrating. sigh But it's summer now so...nope, I'm not even going to promise more frequent updates cuz I never keep the promises I make. I'm an awful person like that. j/k However, in my defense, this chapter was really hard to write and I had it going in a completely different direction with Lex trying to get Clark's blessing before he asked Chloe on a date, but it got way too boring to even write, much less read. I hope this is better.  
  
**Stay With Me  
**  
"It's not a DATE date. It's more of a 'wow-you're-a-really-good-kisser- let's-eat-expensive-food' thing."  
  
Chloe grabbed at the hot ham and cheese sandwich and followed the line through lunch. She had always hated the lunch lines; it felt too much to her like herding cattle through the troughs. In fact, a lot about school reminded her of either a farm or a slaughterhouse, she couldn't figure out which.  
  
Pete shifted uncomfortably behind her in line. Chloe didn't need her good friend ESP to let her know that he was most definitely not crazy about the idea of her dating Lex.  
  
Not that it was a date, because it certainly wasn't.  
  
Chloe rolled her eyes. It would make it so much easier if she didn't have to convince both Pete and herself.  
  
After the huge make out session, things between her and Lex had been rapidly heating up. It was purely physical of course. They had discussed and decided they would be much better off to just be acquaintances-with- benefits, which was fine with Chloe because once Clark snapped out of his depression and asked her out, she would be all over him. Lex, who? Forget the fact that Lex was quickly becoming one of her favorite people to hang out with...and the fact that he could make her laugh quicker than anyone she had ever known, because if you could forget those facts it was much easier to pretend that she had no feelings for him.  
  
Not that she had to pretend.  
  
She typed in her pin number, said thanks to the lunch lady, and headed over to the usual table.  
  
Recently, the table that had once been the Pete/Chloe/Clark/Lana table of wackiness had turned into the Pete/Chloe table of strained silence. Clark preferred to eat his food in his truck, glaring at anyone who tried to come up and talk to him. Especially if that anyone was a blond reporter that sort of reminded people of Anna from The O.C., only less funky.  
  
Chloe hadn't talked to him since their now infamous fight in the parking lot, but not for lack of trying. She wasn't stupid; she knew nothing was going to go back to how it used to be. All she wanted was to be able to nod at him in the hall without feeling like he was shooting heat rays at her from his eyes. Détente would be better than this.  
  
Hell, anything would be better than this.  
  
Pete and Chloe ate their food in the silence she was slowly becoming accustomed to.  
  
When she was little, Chloe had tried to imagine what it would be like if one of her friends died. She had pictured herself standing strong, not being the one to cave. Being the one that all of her friends depended on, the rock in the storm. Never had it occurred to her that when one of her friends died, all of her friendships would die with them. What had happened to all of her friends? What had happened to her?  
  
Where had her high morals gone? She was dating Lex, for Christ's sake. The man she had spent half of her high school journalistic career trying to take down, and here she was, having sexual feelings for him. Shit! If Lana could see her now...  
  
And what did she think would happen once they actually started dating. Did she expect to fall in love with him? Oh God, was she in love with him already?  
  
Disgusted, Chloe pushed back her food. Suddenly she wasn't hungry.  
  
"Where are you going?" Pete asked. The first words said out of the lunch line.  
  
Chloe gave him a rueful smile, reached across the table and squeezed his hand.  
  
"That's the question, isn't it?"

................................................................................................................................................  
  
Clark ate his lunch with his car radio blasting to keep him from falling asleep. He hadn't allowed himself to sleep since the eventful nap in Science, two days ago. Last night had been murder trying to stay up. Mountain Dew can only carry you so far...  
  
Now, with the warm air sweeping past him in lulling waves, Clark was reduced to physically holding his eyelids open. Looking across the parking lot he saw Chloe walking by. To his surprise, a wave of loneliness passed through him. He truly did miss funny, quirky Chloe. Plus, talking to her would keep his mind off of sleep.  
  
As if moving on their own accord, his legs got out of the truck and he walked over to where she was standing.  
  
"Hey Chloe, what are you doing out here? Lunch isn't over, is it?"  
  
Chloe's head snapped up at the sound of his voice, and her eyes grew wide with surprise.  
  
"H-hi, Clark. What-why-what? Why are you talking to me? Not that I'm not glad you're talking to me. 'Cuz I am glad. And relieved. That you're talking to me. You are talking to me right? 'Cuz if you aren't than I'm gonna feel like an idiot since I'm just talking and talking and-"  
  
Clark couldn't help but smile to himself. My how the articulate have fallen. He decided to take pity on her and stop her ramblings.  
  
"Listen, I just wanted to appologize for the fight we had. I know I said a lot of awful things, and I didn't mean them at all. It's just that I miss Lana so much it's hard to breathe, much less talk fairlyand level-headedly. Is that normal?"  
  
Chloe gave him a sympathetic smile and put a hand on his arm.  
  
"Perfectly normal. Do you want to talk about it? I'm all ears, plus one big shoulder to lean on."  
  
Relief filled Clark at Chloe's understanding and easy forgiveness. Looking into her clear blue eyes, it was so easy for the words to come spilling out. He told her of how, when he was in his loft, his eyes would drift over to her house by habit. Of how he wouldn't even notice he was crying until he felt the drips on his hands. Of how he refused to set foot within 15 feet of The Talon. It felt so good to finally be able to talk about everything on his mind.  
  
Well, not everything. Every time he opened his mouth to mention the dreams, something held him back. Selfishly, he was trying to hold that last piece of Lana to himself.  
  
Chloe must have read his mind. "But she hasn't come from beyond the grave to make contact?" She asked with a laugh in her voice. "The Wall of Weird is filled with dead lovers instructing live ones to go crazy."  
  
"...No, no nothing like that..." Clark's eyes looked down. He could never lie to someone and stare them in the face.  
  
"Well, at least that shows that you're not on the other side of sanity. Look, I know you're not going through an easy time right now, but it'll get better. I promise; girl scouts honor. And trust me, I was one hell of a girl scout. Sold more cookies than anyone else on the troop."  
  
Clark managed a weak smile, and Chloe smiled back. God, how Clark missed even the simplest display of connection to another human. This conversation felt so GOOD!  
  
"Thanks for listening to my pathetic ramblings. Hey, are you doing anything tonight? It might be cool to just hang out."  
  
A nervous look came to Chloe's eyes. "Um, actually, well, you see-not that I wouldn't love to, but, well, I'm doing something with someone else."  
  
"Oh, that's ok. Maybe I could tag along."  
  
"Heh, well, that's not quite possible because it's kinda a sorta date thing. With Lex."  
  
"WHAT?!?!?!" The word bursted out of Clark like a bomb and sat ringing between them in the silence that followed.  
  
To be honest, Clark didn't know why he was so mad. He knew that he should be happy that two of his friends were hitting it off after years of fighting, but he couldn't be happy. Not for Chloe and Lex. A little voice niggling him in the back of his mind whispered the reason why.  
  
"Chloe, you can't be thinking about getting involved with a guy like Lex. He's no good in relationships. I've seen him get to more girls' home base than Babe Ruth. I won't let you do this."  
  
Chloe's eyes narrowed at the words.  
  
"Won't let me? You won't LET me? I'm sorry, but when has the choice ever been up to you. If you wanted control over my dating life, then why didn't you ask me out in the past forever that I've like you? Do you expect me just to wait around for you, pining, while you whine and moan about your dead girlfriend?"  
  
Of course that what he expected her to do. She was dependable Chloe. The sky was blue, the grass was green, and Chloe would always be there, waiting on the sidelines, for a chance to be with him. Not that he would ever admit that to her.  
  
"I'm not an idiot! I know even if we do end up dating somewhere down the line, I'll only be a substitute for your what-ifs with Lana. So, now Lex says he likes me. Lex kisses me and tells me I'm beautiful. That's more than you ever did. All right, I'll admit it, I don't like him near as much as I've liked you in the past, but I need to move on now. God knows you'll never move one from Lana."  
  
"And what do you think you'll be with Lex, huh? You think you'll be more than a way to pass time? A way to sharpen his skills while waiting for the next Cindy Crawford to come along? Even if you do manage to make him interested enough to care, the best he'll see you is as a challenge. 'How long will it take me to screw the virgin Chloe.'"  
  
He saw Chloe's eyes fill with tears, and her hand came up to her mouth in shock, but he let his horrible words keep coming anyway.  
  
"And you know what, I bet you don't even have the sense to make it all that challenging."  
  
A crack went through the air, and suddenly the left side of his face was on fire. She had slapped him. In shock, Clark put a gentle hand to his cheek, where not two days ago the other love interest in his personal soap opera had scratched him.  
  
"How dare you." Chloe spit out the words through clenched teeth. "How dare you say those things about us. I thought you were my friend. I thought you knew me. I can't even begin to believe that you said those awful things. Stay away from me Clark. Leave me alone."  
  
And with that she was running away, back into the school.  
  
Clark mutely walked back to his truck. Why had he even bothered to talk to her in the first place? He had forgotten how sweet loneliness was.

................................................................................................................................................  
  
Lex shook his head and turned his attention back to the report he was supposed to be reading.  
  
The sentance looked vaguely familiar. Perhaps because he had read it ten times already. Not to mention the twenty times he had stumbled over the sentence before it. Why couldn't he concentrate lately? He snorted at the obviousness of his own question. He knew exactly why.  
  
One sickeningly peppy, cute blonde reporter.  
  
Not only was she preventing him for getting any work done, but she was also preventing him from getting any sleep, and also saving him some money on electricity bills since he had taken a definite liking to cold showers of late.  
  
Funny how one girl could do all that.  
  
Not that Chloe was just any one girl. She was his intelectual match, equally (if not more) stubborn that him, and not to mention hot as hell. Oh yes, Chloe Sullivan had enough to keep him interested for a very long time.  
  
His receptionist spoke through the tiny intercom on his desk.  
  
"Mr. Luther, a Ms. Sullivan is here to see you."  
  
Speak of the devil. Lex couldn't keep a stupid grin from spreading across his face.  
  
"Send her in, please."  
  
"But, sir, she's dressed..."  
  
"I said send her in."  
  
While waiting for Chloe to walk through the door, Lex took a swallow of water from his glass...only to spit it out when he saw what she looked like.  
  
Chloe was wearing a skin-tight, dark blue tube dress that barely covered everything it needed to. She had her hair tinted blue at the ends, with the kind of stiletto heels that would drive any man wild.  
  
"What are you doing?" he asked in shock.  
  
"Well, hello to you too, Mr. Luther." Her voice was husky and low. "Like what you see?"  
  
"Um...what about tonight? I thought we were all set for the non-date."  
  
Chloe shrugged nonchalantly, and sauntered over to perch ever-so-lightly on the edge of his desk.  
  
"I figured why bother. Why not get straight to the point?"  
  
"And the point is...what? That you would make an exceptional looking hooker?"  
  
"Let's just say I talked to a...for lack of better words, friend, and he informed me of one very important rule when dealing with Lex Luther: What Mr. Luther wants, Mr. Luther gets." She leaned forward just the tiniest bit. "Does Mr. Luther want me?"  
  
Lex's mouth was going dry, and his blood was flowing to less-than-ideal places. Still, he fought every natural urge he had ever been given and leaned away from her.  
  
"Chloe, what is this really about?"  
  
She got up from the desk and sat on his lap.  
  
"Come on, Lex. We both know you're in this for the easy lay. I'm just making it that much easier." Her head dipped for the kiss, but Lex pulled away. He stood up, dropping her from his lap.  
  
"WHAT?!?!?!"  
  
"That word seems to be shouted a lot today," Chloe grumbled as she picked herself up from the ungraceful heap she had landed in.  
  
"How could you say that about me? How could you even think that about me?"  
  
Her eyes rolled. "Please, like I wasn't going to figure out what you were after. All you want is to sex it up while you still can. You know, you really had me fooled for a couple of days. I thought that there was actually a thing between us. But now it's so clear what was happening." She turned her back so he wouldn't see the tears in her eyes.  
  
Lex's arms reached out and grabbed Chloe's shoulders and turned her around.  
  
"Has anything that I've done in this relationship given you the idea that I wasn't as equally interested in your brains and spirit as I am in your body?"  
  
"No, but-"  
  
"Then why would you think that was an act? Chloe, when I'm around you, it's probably the only time I'm not acting. You make me be myself, and that's why I feel like I need to be around you all the time. When you're not here, and I feel myself slipping back into the cold businessman that I have to be sometimes, I miss you so much I can't breathe. Is that normal, this early on in the game?"  
  
Chloe's head was still turned away from him, so that he could only see the profile of her face, but he still caught the ghost of a smile that played on her lips.  
  
"Perfectly normal." Chloe's face suddenly got a pained look. "That's the exact same thing my friend asked."  
  
"Who is this friend anyway, that knows so much about me?"  
  
Chloe dismissed him with a wave of her hand.  
  
"No one important. He was wrong anyway."  
  
"So...are we ok now? Still on for tonight?"  
  
Chloe smiled and pecked him on the cheek. "Sure, tonight, but on one condition."  
  
"Name it."  
  
"We never talk about this, ever."  
  
Lex laughed, which made Chloe blush a deep red. "Condition accepted. But hey, if you really want to wear that dress tonight, that's fine by me."

................................................................................................................................................  
  
Clark was on a beach, with palm trees swaying in a pleasant breeze and the sun setting in a beautiful display of colors over the ocean.  
  
This was odd, especially considering he had just been in his room a moment before.  
  
Looking down the coastline, he saw a single figure sitting in the sand. Her loose hair was blowing in the wind, and her knees were drawn up to her chest.  
  
With a twist of his stomach, Clark knew he was dreaming. He must have fallen asleep. He would know that silhouette anywhere.  
  
She looked up when he approached, gave him a smile, and looked back out over the ocean. Without knowing what else to do, Clark sat down next to Lana, in the white sand.  
  
"You know, this is where I always imagined you would take me for our honeymoon."  
  
Her voice was filled with a longing he had never heard before.  
  
"We were going to get married?" he asked, for lack of knowing what else to do.  
  
"Oh, of course. I had already perfected signing my name Lana Kent."  
  
They sat in silence, staring out at the ocean together.  
  
"Does it bother you, now that you're dead, knowing that you can't do all the things you had planned to do?"  
  
"Of course it does. Sometimes it makes me so angry, all I can do is cry. But I'm lucky. At least I got to meet my soul mate and spend some time with him. Not everyone here can say that."  
  
"Here as in heaven?"  
  
"Oh, Lord no. I don't know what this place is, but it's certainly not heaven. Sometimes, like now, I get to pick what it looks like, and then it's not bad. But other times it's..."  
  
A shudder ripped through her body and she squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out whatever was haunting her.  
  
"Sometimes it's not bad," she whispered.  
  
"Why aren't you in heaven? Why are you stuck here?"  
  
Instead of a direct answer, Lana just chuckled and whispered to the sunset, "I'll never let go Jack, I'll never let go."  
  
"What does that mean?"  
  
She was really starting to scare him.  
  
Lana turned her head and looked directly at him.  
  
"I love you, Clark."  
  
"I love you too, Lana. And I always will."  
  
A sad smile played her lips. "To know love is to understand hate."  
  
"I don't understand what you're saying!" Clark threw up his hands in frustration.  
  
"Goodbye, Clark." Lana said, as she leaned in and gave him a kiss.  
  
"It's not goodbye Lana. For us, it'll never be goodbye."  
  
"Too true."  
  
Clark woke up in a sweat, with no idea what had just happened.

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You like? You hate? If you answered yes to at least one of these questions, you should review!


	5. A Note From The Author

A Note From Your Friendly Neighborhood Author:  
  
Well, I just thought I'd let you guys know that due to a family emergency involving my dad getting a kidney transplant and a flight across the country to get it, the writing of Stay With Me will be postponed until everything is settled. I'm thinking anywhere between August and September. Me thinks the reviewers are mad at me for the long wait from last time, so I just wanted to tell everyone not to expect anything for awhile.  
  
A big shout-out to the ones who did review! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!  
  
-LCA  
  
P.S. If you have a chance, see Fahrenheit 9/11. Even if you don't agree, it's something to think about... 


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